Autobiography of a River
I am a river and I am writing my autobiography. I am the river Ganges, I was born from Gomukh. It is in the lap of the Himalayas. I was born thousands of years ago. I am very restless from my birth. By current is very strong in my upper course. Here I leap from one rock to another. I have been flowing through the hills, valleys and planes from the date of my birth.
Naturally there are different speeds in the course of my journey. In the middle it becomes slower and in the plains it is very slow. Here I am very wide. Here I pass through the paddy fields, forests and thickly populated inhabitations. People of different creed and culture have built their cities and towns on the bank of me. Many towns of pilgrimage have also been built on my bank. I am an object of worship to the Hindus. They bath in my sacred water and use it in different occasions. Even the sanctity offer to the altars by sprinkling my water. I am myself a deity to thousands of people of the country.
Boats, Steamers and Ships ply along on my surfaced. My water is used for drinking and other purpose. In spite of that they do not take care of me. They throw polluted articles. During the rainy seasons my surface rises and I overflew the banks causing flood. People suffer much. But I cannot actually be responsible for this. I am the perennial life line of India. I have sustained the Indian civilizations. Naturally precautions should be taken to purify my water. For this reason Ganga Action Plan was also initiated in 1984. But all the attempts were in vain.
I am a very old river. I will flow on forever. Like the cloud, I change but I cannot die.
